Still
telling the story of the 2024 National Teacher's Day, which fell on
Monday, I was reminded of one of the outstanding teachers who appeared
in the film The Miracle Worker. This film tells the story of an
inspirational teacher who guides the deaf and deaf children, who will
become one of the most popular and important figures.
The Miracle Worker
The
film tells the story of Helen Keller, a U.S. human rights activist with
special needs in Alabama in 1880 who was deaf, mute, and blind at the age of 19
months. This condition certainly makes it difficult for Helen to
communicate with the people around her, including her parents, making her
angry and prone to being unable to be directed.
Actually,
Helen can communicate simply by moving his hands towards the cheek
when asking where the mother is. Helen also loved candy (a powerful way
to make Helen calm and not raging) and was fond of hiding the keys.
Because
the mother did not want to be far from her daughter, Helen's father
decided to call a teacher to teach Helen. Anne Sullivan, an alumna of a
school, was chosen because of Anne's condition, which turned out to have a
visual abnormality. She is considered the best teacher who could understand
Helen.
Upon
arrival at Keller's residence, Anne saw how Helen was treated with special care by her family, so Helen tended to be unruly and arbitrary.
Helen herself looks like a smart and spoiled child because everyone
obeys whatever she wants.
At
one time, when Anne realized Helen was used to eating by taking food
from other people’s plates, Anne realized discipline could be the best
parenting to teach Helen. And this process requires the firmness of
everyone, including both Helen's parents.
At
first Helen's father and mother objected after Anne tried to convince
the two to allow Anne to be more assertive in a way (pretending to) go
out of town and settle in a house alone Anne and Helen.
For
two weeks, Anne patiently taught Helen the manners as well as
introducing her to sign language to communicate by means
of language using finger movements or passwords placed in the palm of
the hand. When you ask for something (like the cake), Anne will spell
the password 'Cookie' in Helen's hand, and Anne will give Helen the
cake if Helen wants to spell the password in Anne's hand.
Anne
also taught the names of objects around Helen, and gradually, Helen
began to show a change in her calmer behavior and understood the
instructions given through the hand cipher.
She Knows
When
time ran out, both of Helen's parents objected to Anne's request to
continue this method of learning. As a result, as soon as Helen returns
home, Helen returns to her old habits that do not want to be arranged.
This certainly made Anne disappointed but did not dampen Anne's steps
to still teach Helen.
In
the film, it is portrayed that Anne remains looking for a way to teach
Helen to communicate and finally opens when one day Helen breaks the
water teapot. Anne asked Helen to refill the spilled water and bring
Helen and guide Helen to pump water directly from the pump while
continuing to communicate, working on the words ‘water’ as Helen’s hands
touch the water and ‘pump’ as Helen’s hands touch the pump.
Unexpectedly, Helen began to understand Anne's intention of sticking her hand and turned to spelling 'water' and 'pump.' Anne
took Helen around the courtyard and worked on the word for everything
Helen had touched. Finally, Helen understood that when every object had a name
and a 'spelling,' what Helen had to convey would communicate with
others.
Remake
The
Miracle Worker was adapted from the book Helen Miller, Story of My
Life. The film I watched was a movie version of the movie in 2000. I
didn’t know when I first watched it that I’m sure I’m impressed with the
storyline and the main cast—a little girl that I’ll ever know—the
younger sibling of the main cast of The Social Network. His charming
acting made me feel at home watching it many times.
For
me personally, this film makes me learn a lot about children with
special needs (ABK) and how to accompany it. An ABK must have hidden potential that can be an amazingly beautiful diamond; we can be able to
hone it well.
 |
| Helen Keller (https://helenkellerintl.org/who-we-are/helen-keller/) |
In
real life, Helen Miller grew and developed into a respected American
writer and political activist. It all started with the parental patience,
family acceptance, and persistence of The Miracle Worker, an outstanding
teacher, Anne Sullivan, who continued to accompany Helen to adulthood,
went to higher education, and even graduated under the title of Cum
Laude.
Impressed
Helen, Mark Twain, a famous writer and journalist, recommended Helen
for financial support from her friend Henry Rogers. Helen
published two of her outstanding books, The Story of My Life (1902), which was filmed, and Optimist (1903), as well as dozens of other books.
Inspiring Teacher
Anne
is an alumnus of Perkin School for the Blind (a special school for the
blind) who has studied braille and written using a special typewriter.
No wonder that Anne herself almost suffered blindness and had undergone a
series of eye surgeries.
Anne
studied sign language in the palm of the hand for the blind man from
Laura Brigman, the first blind woman to get a formal education. This
sign language is what will be used to teach Helen Keller to communicate
by touching Anne's face to feel the vibrations of the nose, lips, and
esophagus. Great, yes 😍.
 |
| Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anne-Sullivan) |
Anne
Sullivan was recommended to Helen's parents by Alexander Graham Bell
(your phone owner and also a patron of deaf children). Anne accompanied
Helen for 50 years. Anne, the inspirational teacher in The Miracle
Worker, suffered total blindness for one year before his death in 1936.
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